In many ways, it doesn't take much to mesmerize us, to stop us in our tracks and just freeze us in a moment.
Some things are simple but magnificent, like a great voice. Norm Park recently noted the vocalists that cause him pause, but for the young crowd today, it's Adele. It's hard to argue for any voice that could top hers in today's music.
Some things make us stop because of how complicated they are. I can sit and read about or listen to Stephen Hawking any time, even though the majority of his stuff is way over my head. I don't understand exactly what he's talking about, I just understand he puts forward some incredible ideas and I enjoy finding out about mind-boggling things.
Those are two examples of the greatness that humanity has to offer, but maybe the greatest thing we've ever offered is fire. It's campfire season again, so every weekend from now until September people will be sitting transfixed by flames licking the air in quick, reflexive bursts.
There's just something relaxing about a campfire. There isn't really much to debate about why; it's in our blood. The soothing nature of the campfire leaves us truly mesmerized. We can't take our eyes away, the same way a golden retriever just can't ignore a tennis ball.
It's fun to think about the things we have little control over thanks to thousands of years of an activity being ingrained into our DNA. The campfire is a universal sign of comfort and safety, and at a biological level now, we all share those feelings. Since our first fires, our genetics have just changed and now we all have that fire gene.
A great way to quiet down a party is to sit everyone in front of the fire. Pretty soon everyone will just be sitting there staring at fire. At any other time, eight people sitting in a circle sharing no words or glances would be incredibly awkward, but when you put a crackling fire in the middle of that group, it's simply serene.
No matter how advanced we become as a species, there will always be those simple things that reside inside our genes. We're certainly more sophisticated than animals, but we all still have those animal instincts.
I've read that laughter was used to communicate safety back before language really took off. If you wanted the rest of the group to know everything was A-OK, you'd just laugh. Now we can tell everyone it's all good, but the laughter remains. I don't want to give up laughter, but it's one of those things that seems really silly when you think about it. Spectacular but silly.
We have bug zappers that draw in airborne insects. Just like the bugs that are drawn to those electric blue rays, we are drawn to fire. We've just also developed a healthy fear of the flames too, so we know enough not to touch them. I guess that's still how we have the bugs beat.
